I Am A SLAVE To My Blackberry

I am a SLAVE. Not the type of slave you are probably thinking of, but a slave nevertheless. I am utterly controlled by the situation. It dominates my life and at times completely overwhelms my entire being. It oppresses me.

I have tried to fight against my EVIL master. I have demanded change but to no avail. If anything, things continue to get worse. I am a slave I tell you … A slave to my Blackberry.

I called AT&T today to get my minutes used in the past few months. Since I use my Blackberry Curve for work, and wince I am working all of the time and traveling, my phone usage is re-god-damn-diculous!

August: 4425 minutes. That is 73.75 hours or OVER 3 DAYS on the phone.
September: 3901 minutes. That is 65.02 hours or 2.71 days on the phone.
October: 3926 minutes. That is 65.43 hours or 2.73 days on the phone.

If you have ever used a Blackberry you know that on top of the unit is a little blinking light. It blinks blue when you do not have any emails or calls or text messages. But when one comes in it blinks red. So even if you have turned off your ringer, you still see the dreaded blinking red light. I find myself looking at the blinking light THOUSANDS of times a day. Other Blackberry owners I know do the same. Forget “crackberry thumb” syndrome – how about Blackberry Neck Pains from looking constantly!

We always carry our Blackberry with us anywhere we go. The kitchen, the living room, the bathroom it is there by our side. And we always look at the blinking light. But no where is worse then in the bedroom.

Right next to the bed sits the phone each night. Plugged in and changing it sits next to me and ruins my sleep on a regular basis. If I stir even the slightest bit I look to see if I have any messages. No matter the time of the night I pick it up to look. I CAN NOT control it. It is looking directly at me. Just blinking and blinking. It calls out to me to look. I know I should not, but I just can’t control my arm as it reaches out to grab the Blackberry. It OWNS me, my sleep, and my existence.

This morning I was in the shower and the Blackberry was on the sink counter. While washing my body I looked over repeatedly to see if the light was blinking red. Why? I have no idea? Was I getting out and while soaking wet going to look? No, but I had to know if someone had tried to reach me.

How did this happen? How did we become so hopelessly obsessed with being “connected”. And these phones are not just phones. They are mini computers that keep me working at all hours and all places. I am never unattached or unreachable. It is …. horrible. And worse yet – I know that this situation is silly, but I can’t escape it. If I don’t have the Blackberry near me, I need to know what I missed. How did this piece of plastic and tiny computer pieces take over my life?

And they are getting smarter and smarter. My Blackberry now has a 2 gig card in it and I have put 700 songs, countless pictures and videos on the phone. I get high speed internet on the phone, CNN, ESPN, Google maps, ALL my favorite blogs and forums, and just about every other site out there. Now I no longer need my iPod and have the Blackberry at the gym or anywhere else I go. It is systematically eliminating the need for me to use all other machines I use to come into contact with regularly.

What’s next? Will it somehow replace human interaction all together? Wil it take the place of my wife, son, family and friends? Can we say Terminator for real?

I can not escape my Blackberry. It dominates my life. I love my Blackberry. So scary